Chapter Name : Electric Current and its Effects

Written Work
Uses of Electricity

At Home in Office in Factories

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Important terms

1. Electrical Circuit : The continuous path of flow of electricity through

various electrical components connected to a source of electricity.
2. Battery : Combination of two or more cells.
: Battery

3. Electrical Appliance : Any device / machine that is run on electrical

energy.
4. Element : Coil of wire.
Questions
1. Draw the Electrical Components with its symbol.
2. Differentiate between Open Circuit and Closed Circuit.
Answer :
Closed-circuit:
i. When the switch is in the ‘ON’ position.
ii. The circuit from the positive terminal of the battery to the
negative terminal is complete then the circuit is said to be
closed and the current flows throughout the circuit.
iii. Also the bulb glows in the closed circuit.
iv. Circuit is called complete circuit.

Open circuit:
i. When the switch is in the ‘OFF’ position or the filament of
the bulb is broken.
ii. No current flows through any part of the circuit.
iii. Bulb do not glow in the open circuit.
iv. The circuit is called incomplete.

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3. Explain any two effects of Electric Current.
Answer :
i. Heating Effect
When an electric current flows through a wire, the wire gets
heated. It is the heating effect of current or When current flows
through a metal wire it gets heated up, this is called heating effect
of current. E.g. a glowing electric bulb becomes warm. This effect
has many applications like Electric Heater, Light Bulb etc.
ii. Magnetic Effect
When an electric current flows through a wire, it produces
magnetic effect around it. A current carrying coil of an insulated
wire wrapped around a piece of iron is called an electromagnet.
Magnetic Effect of electric current has many applications like
Electric Bell, Motor, Fan etc

4. Name some electric appliances where the heating effect of the

electric current is used.
Answer:
Some of the electric appliances where the heating effect of the
electric current is used are electric heater, geyser, micro-oven,
room heater, boiler, etc.

5. State the factors on which amount of heat produced depends?

Answer :
The amount of heat produced in a wire depends on
(A) Its material – better conductors produce less heat; e.g.
Elements of electric appliances are made of nichrome whereas
connecting wires are made up of copper which is a better
conductor so they do not get heated up as the element.
(B) Its length – as length increases heat produced increases; e.g.
elements are coiled in heaters to increase length.
(C) Thickness – as thickness increases heat produced decreases;
e.g. lead wires of iron, heater etc. are thicker than normal
connecting wire so that they don’t get heated up easily.

6. What are filaments of a bulb and a heater made up of?

Answer :
Bulb : In a bulb there is a thin wire called the filament made up of
tungsten. When current passes through it, it glows and gets heated
up.
Heater : In a heater there is a coil of wire called element which is
made up of nichrome. When current passes through element it
becomes red hot and give out heat.
7. Name the type of mark for which we should look at an electrical
appliance before buying.
Answer:
ISI mark is a mark for which we should look at an electrical
appliance before buying.

8. Explain why are CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) preferred

over electric bulbs.
Answer:
Compact fluorescent lamps are preferred over electric bulbs
because electric bulbs use more power of electricity and it also
losses electrical energy in the form of heat but it is not so in
compact fluorescent lamps.

9. The bulb in the circuit shown in fig. 14.13 does not glow. Can you
identify the problem? Make necessary changes in the circuit to
make the bulb glow.

Answer : Problem in this circuit is the combination of two cells. In

the circuit positive terminal of one cell should be connected with
negative terminal of other to make the bulb glow.

10. Name the device used to protect damages to the circuit due to
excessive flow of current.
Answer:
Electrical fuse or MCB.
11. What happens if by accident the current exceeds the safe limit?
Answer:
The wires may become overheated and may cause fire.
12. What is a fuse?
Answer:
A fuse is a safety device which prevents damages to electrical
circuits and possible fires.
13. Why is an electric fuse required in all electrical appliances?
Answer:
It is required to check excessive flow of electric current and save
electrical appliances from further damage.

14. What type of wire is used for making electric fuses?

Answer:
Wires (having low melting point) made of some special materials
that melt quickly and break when large electric currents are
passed through them are used for making electric fuses.

15. Why are MCB preferred over electric fuses?

Answer:
Due to following reasons MCB are preferred over electric fuses:
i. MCB is more sensitive to overcurrent than fuse.
ii. Restoration of electric supply is quick. Restoration can be
done by just switching the operating knob to its ‘ON’
position
iii. Handling MCB is electrically more safe than fuse.

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16. Explain the construction of a simple electromagnet with a labelled

diagram.
Answer:
Definition : An electromagnet act on the principle of magnetic
effect of the current. The coil of wire wound around an iron bar
behaves like a magnet when electric current flows through it.
When electric current is switched off, the coil generally loses its
magnetism.
 Construction

i. To construct an electromagnet, take a big iron nail or a big

iron screw.

ii. Take a long piece of insulated copper wire and wind quite a
few turns around the nail.

iii. Connect the ends of the wire to the terminals of a battery

through a switch.

iv. Place some pins on or near the end of the nail. Now switch
on the current. You will observe that pins cling to the nail.
Now switch off the current. You will observe that pins no
longer get attracted to the nail.

17. When the current is switched on through a wire, a compass

needle kept nearby gets deflected from its north-south position.
Explain.
Answer :

When current is passed through the wire, it deflects the compass

near it from its north-south position like a magnet. This is called
magnetic effect of the current. As we know that needle of the
compass is made up of a thin magnet. When this needle comes in
contact with another magnet then the like poles of the magnet
repel each other and opposite poles attract each other. So the
deflection is seen in the needle. In this case the wire behaves like a
magnet and causes deflection in needle of the compass.
18. Do you think an electromagnet can be used for separating plastic
bags from a garbage heap? Explain.
Answer :
No, the plastic bags do not get attracted by the magnet, so they
cannot be separated by an electromagnet. Plastic bags are not
magnetic materials, only magnetic materials like iron can be
attracted by the magnet.

19. An electrician is carrying out some repairs in your house. He

wants to replace a fuse by a piece of wire. Would you agree? Give
reasons for your response.
Answer :
No, we would not agree to allow to replace the fuse by a wire.
Wires in the fuses are of specific melting points. We should always
use ISI marked fuses in our houses to prevent short circuits.

20. Explain the working of an electric bell with the labelled diagram.
Answer:
It consists of a coil of wire wound on an iron piece. The coil acts as
an electromagnet. An iron strip with a hammer at one end is kept
close to the electromagnet. There is a contact screw near the iron
strip.
i. When the iron strip is in contact with the screw, the current
flows through the coil which becomes an electromagnet. It,
then, pulls the iron strip. In the process, the hammer at the
end of the strip strikes the gong of the bell to produce a
sound. However, when the electromagnet pulls the iron
strip, it also breaks the circuit.
ii. The current through the coil stops flowing and the coil is no
longer behaves as an electromagnet. It no longer attracts the
iron strip. The iron strip comes back to its original position
and touches the contact screw again.
iii. This completes the circuit. The current flows in the coil and
the hammer strikes the gong again. This process is repeated
in quick succession. The hammer strikes the gong every
time the circuit is completed. This is how the bell rings.
 Electric Bell Diagram

21. In the circuit shown in fig. 14.17.

i. Would any of the bulb glow when the switch is in the ‘OFF’
position?
ii. What will be the order in which the bulbs A, B and C will
glow when the switch is moved to the ‘ON’ position?

Answer :
i. No bulb will glow.
ii. All bulbs will glow simultaneously as all the bulbs are
connected in series.

22. Who was the first person to notice the deflection of compass
needle every time the current was passed through the wire?
Answer:
Hans Christian Oersted.
23. What are the uses of Electromagnet?
Answer :
i. Doctors use tiny electromagnets to take out small pieces of
magnetic material that fallen in the eye accidentally.
ii. Used to separate magnetic material from the junk.
iii. Used in cranes to lift-up heavy loads.
iv. Also used in Toys.

24. Fig. 14.11 shows four cells fixed on a board. Draw lines to indicate
how you will connect their terminals with wires to make a battery
of four cells.

Answer :

25. Will the compass needle show deflection when the switch in the
circuit shown by fig. 14.15 is closed?
 Answer : No, because there is no source of electric current in this
circuit, i.e., there is no battery.

26. Zubeda made an electric circuit using a cell holder shown in fig.
14.4, a switch and a bulb. When she put the switch in the ‘ON’
position, the bulb did not glow. Help Zubeda in identifying the
possible defects in the circuit

Answer : It is important to put the cells in right series. The

positive terminal of the first cell should be connected with
negative terminal of the second cell. The switch should be closed
properly and bulb should not be fused. If Zubeda will check these
then the bulb will certainly glow.

Fill in the blanks:

(a) Longer line in the symbol for a cell represents its positive terminal
(b) The combination of two or more cells is called a battery .
(c) When current is switched ‘on’ in a room heater, it becomes red hot and
emits heat .
(d) The safety device based on the heating effect of electric current is called
a fuse.

Mark ‘T’ if the statement is True and ‘F’ it is a False:

(a) To make a battery of two cells, the negative terminal of one cell is
connected to the negative terminal of the other cell. False
(b) When the electric current through the fuse exceeds a certain limit , the
fuse wire melts and breaks. True
(c) An electromagnet does not attract a piece of iron. False
(d) An electric bell has an electromagnet. True
N S S N (
Repulsion

S N. S N (
Attraction